This invention relates to golfing equipment. More particularly, this invention relates to a golf practice sighting device adapted to be demountably attached to the shaft of a putter for aiding a golfer in accurately aligning the putter with a golf ball and a target.
One of the major difficulties in putting a golf ball is placing the face of the putter exactly at right angles, both horizontally and vertically, to the line extending from the golf ball to the target at the moment of impact of the putter with the ball. If the face of the putter is not properly aligned, the ball will not travel in the desired direction and an unsuccessful shot will result in most all cases. Placement of the putter in the proper position relative to the club head is especially difficult when the ball is even a relatively short distance from the target since the golfer is unable to see the golf ball, the club head and the target at the same time.
Practice type sighting devices that are adapted to be demountably attached to the shaft of the club for assisting the golfer in properly aligning the club relative to the ball and target by enabling the golfer to see the target when looking down in the direction of the ball are well known in the art. For example, one known device includes a viewer having a 45.degree. mirror and a clamping assembly for attaching the viewer to the shaft of the club. When the device is attached to the shaft of the club and the viewer is properly oriented relative to the face of the club, the 45.degree. mirror will reflect an image of any object in the area directly in front of the face of the club that can be seen by the golfer when he is in his normal stance above the golf ball and looking directly down. The clamping assembly is such that the viewer can be adjusted about several different axes so that it can be properly aligned relative to the face of the club and the head of the golfer. One of the problems with the device, however, is that there is no way for accurately squaring the viewer relative to the face of the club. Obviously, in order for the device to be useful, the optical axis of the viewer must be exactly at right angles to the face of the club. Otherwise, the device will not provide a correct indication of whether the club head is properly aligned with the ball and target.